Tottenham Hotspur's English striker Harry Kane (R) attempts an overhead kick by Chelsea's Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at White Hart Lane in north London on November 29, 2015.BEN STANSALL / AFP/Getty Images

Premier League leaders Chelsea host Tottenham on Saturday in a huge London derby.

Spurs (6-6-0) are the only team still undefeated in all of English league football. In fact, you have to go back to 1960 to find the last time Tottenham started a season undefeated in twelve games. However, half those games this year have been draws, and all those points dropped are the reason Spurs aren’t in the top four.

A key player in this game could be Tottenham striker Harry Kane. He has a tremendous scoring record of 17 goals in 16 London derbies in league play.

The Blues, meanwhile, are the Premiership’s most in-form team. They’ve won five in a row, by a combined score of 17-0 — including lopsided home wins over Everton, Manchester United, and Leicester City.

A key to Chelsea’s success is 3-4-3 formation used by manager Antonio Conte. Diego Costa leads the attack, while wing-backs Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses tear up and down the flanks. The strong play of Moses this season is vindication for a player who had failed to catch on at Chelsea or any of the clubs he had been loaned out to over the past few years. Traditionally a winger, Moses is still learning the defensive responsibilities of playing wing-back. Fortunately he can count on Conte on the sidelines screaming at him to get back.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Leipzig’s players celebrate Leverkusen’s own goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig in Leverkusen, Germany last Friday.Martin Meissner /
AP

If you look atop the Bundesliga standings this week you will see something that you won’t normally see. Bayern Munich is not in first place. What’s more, the team that is in top spot is not one that you may recognize. RB Leipzig is the new front-runner in Germany, which is all the more remarkable given that the club was only founded in 2009 and only gained promotion to the top flight this season.

RB Leipzig is part of the family of clubs owned by energy drink giant Red Bull, which helps explain the team’s rapid rise up the ranks. It also explains why the team is extremely unpopular among German fans, many of who whom are worried about too much corporate interference in the game’s traditions.

While Red Bull has put a lot of money into RB Leipzig, it’s been done the right way, with a strong focus on building a good youth academy, and developing younger players. Leipzig’s top players are almost all under the age of 23, on a roster that is very heavily youth-oriented. Among them are Guinea international midfielder Naby Keita, who was brought in from sister side Red Bull Salzburg, and 20-year-old German striker Timo Werner, who was picked up from VfB Stuttgart.

Leipzig plays today away to Freiburg, which is a mid-table side but with an excellent home record.

THE TEAM WITH NO FANS

Besiktas’ Vincent Aboubakar, centre, celebrates after scoring a goal with teammate and Canadian international Atiba Hutchinson, right, during the UEFA Champions League Group B football match between Besiktas Istanbul and Benfica Lisbon at Vodafone arena on Wednesday in Istanbul.OZAN KOSE /
AFP/Getty Images

Another unpopular team sitting top of the table is Istanbul Basaksehir in Turkey. The club is owned and operated by the city of Istanbul, so is subsidized by municipal taxes.

Originally founded in 1990 by the city’s water works department, the club has gone through a few different name changes, but has struggled to develop much of a fan base. Just a few years ago, they played at the massive city-owned 76,000 seat Ataturk Olympic Stadium, with typically only a few dozen friends and family in the stands!

They have since moved to a new stadium in the Basaksehir district, but the bulk of their attendance numbers still comes from fans of the visiting teams.

While a lack of fans may sound like a hindrance, coach Abdullah Avci says it has allowed the club to be patient in building a team, free from the pressures of a large fan base and media criticism. So while they don’t have much in the way of star players, the squad does have a stable core and good chemistry, and is getting good results.

On Saturday, Basaksehir plays away to second-place Besiktas in a big Istanbul derby. Besiktas, which features Canada’s Atiba Hutchinson, is only two points behind the leaders and looks to be the only team in position to deny Basaksehir the title.

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